Generally, this kind of clutch control mechanism for a fishing reel is so constructed that a clutch lever, which on-off controls the clutch means, is supported to the stationary member in relation of being reciprocal, the clutch lever is provided with a torsion spring for biasing the lever forwardly and backwardly, and a return plate having a plurality of protuberances engageable with the clutch lever is supported rotatably to the stationary member, so that the clutch lever is operated forwardly to switch-off the clutch means and biased by the torsion spring so as to be kept at the end of its forward movement, and the handle is operated to rotate the return plate so as to allow the protuberances to strike the clutch lever, thereby returning the clutch lever against the torsion spring, thus switching-on the clutch means and keeping the clutch lever at the end of its backward movement.
The aforesaid clutch control mechanism described above allows the protuberance at the return plate to be positioned on the path of reciprocating movement of the clutch lever. In this instance, the clutch lever, when moving forward, occasionally strikes a protuberance, thereby being restrained from forward movement and making it difficult to switch-off the clutch means.
To solve this problem, a spring is conventionally used instead of the torsion spring, for biasing the clutch lever always backwardly, a retaining device is used for retaining the clutch lever at its forward movement end, a pawl is provided swingably at the utmost end of the clutch lever in the forward movement direction thereof, and a pawl control is provided at the clutch lever in relation of swinging only in the backwardly moving direction of the clutch lever and not in the forwardly moving direction, so that the retaining device retains the clutch lever at the forward movment end thereof, while, when the handle is turned, the protuberance at the return plate engages with the pawl to release the clutch lever at the forward movement end from the retaining device, thereby moving the clutch lever backwardly.
The clutch control mechanism just described, however, has the following problems: the movement of the protuberance at the return plate in the same direction as the forward movement of the clutch lever is used for the backward movement of the clutch lever, whereby the pawl must be provided at the clutch lever at the reverse side to the reel mounting side on a fishing rod with respect to the spool shaft. However, an anti-reverse-rotation mechanism is provided at the reverse side to the fishing rod, so that a large space must be provided at the reverse side of the clutch lever causing the reel to become larger as a whole.